Nabezuka Kofun and Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - K

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Nabezuka Kofun

   Nabezuka is a modest mound in the Kashihara district of Nara prefecture, in the part of Japan where the country's first centralised state took shape. It is the sort of site that does not make the headlines. A rounded hill in a field, perhaps with a few trees, it belongs to the thousands of burial mounds scattered across the Yamato plain, and its main interest is that it forms part of a whole landscape of tombs rather than being a single sight. If you want the big picture, the archaeological museum in Kashihara explains how the mounds changed from large keyholes to small round or square tombs as the centuries passed.

   Read the complete Nabezuka Kofun write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Nabezuka Kofun is where the day begins. Next is Daigo-ji.

2. 2. Daigo-ji

   The oldest building in Kyoto does not stand in the city centre but in the southeastern hills, at the temple of Daigo-ji: a five storey pagoda completed in 951, which has survived fires, earthquakes and wars that destroyed almost everything else of its age in the city. The temple was founded in the ninth century on Mount Daigo, and its grounds spread from the foot of the mountain to the summit, linked by a steep path, with halls, gardens and sub temples along the way. It is part of the Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto World Heritage Site.

   Read the complete Daigo-ji write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Daigo-ji comes up about 58 km into the recorded legs. Next is Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - K.

3. 3. Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - K

   Mount Kōya is one of Japan's great sacred places, a high basin in the mountains of northern Wakayama where the monk Kūkai founded a monastic centre for Shingon Buddhism in the early ninth century. Today it is a town of over a hundred temples, many of which take in overnight guests, set among towering cedars. South of the summit plateau, deep in the forested ridges, run the old pilgrim trails that link Kōya with the Kumano shrines, part of the network inscribed by UNESCO as the Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range.

   Read the complete Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - K write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 197 km into the recorded legs you reach Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - K. Next is back through Daigo-ji.

4. 4. back through Daigo-ji

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Daigo-ji write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Daigo-ji, late in the day. Next is Nabezuka Kofun.

5. 5. Nabezuka Kofun

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Nabezuka Kofun write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Back at Nabezuka Kofun. That is the ride.